The First World War
100 Years On
Year 8 Extended Homework
Background
• This year marks the 100th
Anniversary of the start of
World War One.
• On 28th June 1914
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
- heir to the throne of
Austria Hungary - was
assassinated in Sarajevo.
• This would lead to a series
of events that would
ultimately result in a world
war.
Move forward four Years - 11th
November 1918
• 8.5 million soldiers have died
• Over 20 million died because
of the war
• 21 million people have been
wounded
• 7.7 million are missing
• These people become known as
the ‘lost generation.’
Task
• Choose one of the following real people to
research and take on as a character.
• Write an autobiography of their life
serving in the Great War.
• There are four chapters in total. Each of
these should be at least one page of A4
long and should include clear evidence of
your research.
Options
Private Sidney Lewis
Mairi Chisholm
Lt. Walter Tull
Esther Barnett
Harry Farr
Sepoy Khudadad Khan
Captain Albert Borella
Siegfried Sassoon
George Blackman
Remember! Each of
these would have had
a different life before
the war, and different
opinions based on
their backgrounds
What is an Autobiography?
• When a person writes the story of his or her own
life, the result is an autobiography. While a diary
or journal is usually written very close to the time
of the events it describes, an autobiography is
usually written some time after.
Did you know…?
The word autobiography comes from
three ancient Greek
words: auto meaning ‘self ’
bios meaning ‘life’ and graphein
meaning ‘to write’. So autobiography
can roughly translate as ‘self-life
writing’.
Task
Chapters to include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
What was life like before the war?
Why did you decide to join?
What was it like in the Trenches?
How do you feel about the war now it has
ended – was the sacrifice made people like
you worth it?*
* If your chosen soldier died in World War One, you need to show what you
think their opinion would have been and how different their life would have
been after the war, compared to before.
Gifted and Talented Extension
Despite it being 100 years since the
beginning of World War One, Germany
has decided that they will not mark this
anniversary, or those who died, with any
official events of remembrance
Please read here and here for more
information.
Gifted and Talented Activity
This quote appears in a local news paper:
“100 Years has passed since the beginning of World War
One. The issues at the heart of the war no longer
dominate European politics. The people who fought have all
died. Many people today have never experienced the
hardships of Total War. This anniversary should be the
last of it’s kind. It is time for Britain to follow the
example of the Germans and tone down our obsession with
World War One”
Write a letter of response to the newspaper giving your
view on this issue. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
Deadline for completion:
Please hand in your completed project to
your Humanities teacher on
Wednesday
st
21
May